Actually, at this point, there's not an aro that I can't taste, but like I said, it took decades to get there.
Aromatic Bowl Size?
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At the OP's instigation, I cracked open a 3yr. old jar of G&H Top Black Cherry, and I must say the flavor comes through pretty nicely (altho I have no idea what the room note is like). It has a strong Black Cherry flavor and a meaty mouth feel which resembles that of unsweetened black chocolate. There is also something in the profile that suggests a chemical taste, but it's very tolerable. The only downside is that there is very little tobacco taste, and the blend wears on the palate; so I need to smoke this in small bowls.
I think you'll do OK if you're really into Black Cherry. :
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I think you'll do OK if you're really into Black Cherry. :
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Hard to pick just one, so I'll do it like this. Not in any particular order.
Rattray's Exotic Orange
Rattray's Blossom Temptation
D&R London Dock
Newminster Blackberry Brandy
Strauss Sleepy Hollow
GH Rich Dark Honeydew
Lane Black Raspberry
Sutliff Chocolate Truffle
I can taste Exotic Orange, lemony something in Grousemoor, the cinnamon and chocolate in Christmas Spice, caramel/butterscotch in trout Stream,and Raspberry in my raspberry emulsion treated VBC. But most other Aros are about the aroma, so to speak. BTW, mixing Grousemoor and Exotic Orange is the best microblend if you want to augment the citrus taste and smell of the orange.
Not at all. The longer you smoke, the more pronounced the flavorings become. For the OTC crowd, I can also taste all of the Captain Black offerings, and Paladin Black Cherry.
That is the difference between us. I do not have your experience. I should not have spoke in absolutes. Hopefully I will be able to taste more as I go.
If you want a Cherry blend that tastes like Cherry then I would go for Cult Blood Red Moon. I am not an aromatic smoker by any stretch of the imagination and that blend surprised the shit out of me. It actually tastes like Cherry and in a good way. It smokes dry and the flavors last the entire bowl. I would be careful of anything from G&H as their Lakeland essence is an acquired taste in my opinion.
Here is a pipe that I think will smoke any aromatic just fine.
https://www.smokingpipes.com/pipes/new/winslow/moreinfo.cfm?product_id=248578
Here is a pipe that I think will smoke any aromatic just fine.
https://www.smokingpipes.com/pipes/new/winslow/moreinfo.cfm?product_id=248578
My experience with otc aros would be borkum riff original blend.
On another note, would cavendish be considered aromatic or no? I ask because my family had gotten me a bag of "natural cavendish" and from my understanding that is just steamed and pressed to bring out the natural sugars.
On another note, would cavendish be considered aromatic or no? I ask because my family had gotten me a bag of "natural cavendish" and from my understanding that is just steamed and pressed to bring out the natural sugars.
Cavendish can be sweetened or unsweetened. Just depends on the blend. If you smell anything from it other than tobacco, ie. vanilla, chocolate, etc, it would be considered aromatic. Unsweetened Cavendish is added to blends to give more body to the smoke.
It may be a subjective issue as well. Tastes are radically different. Some can taste nuances in lat bombs while if a blend has more than a condimental percentage of Latakia, that's all I taste.
First things first, it's somewhat agreed upon (everyone has their own opinion, but if you ask enough pipe smokers you'll tend to hear this more often than not) that bigger bowl chambers are better for English/Oriental and Aromatic blends and smaller bowl chambers are better for Virginias and VaPers (Virginia/Perique). The theory is that Aromatics and English/Orientals have more vivid flavors that open up more with a bigger bowl chamber whereas Virginia and VaPer blends tend to be less complex and therefore "shine" in a smaller bowl chamber. Now this, like all things pipe smoking, is subjective. I would advise starting with this rule and branching out from it. Try a Virginia in a bigger bowl, try an English in a smaller bowl and see how your palate reacts to it.
I've branched out into Virgnias and VaPers, but I still enjoy Aromatics a lot. I personally think Aros are a good start for a newbie, because you'll scorch your tongue at first, but with practice and experience you can eliminate that tongue bite and if you can do that with an Aromatic you should have a solid cadence going for all blend types. For me I learned my cadence by pairing a bowl of an Aro with a caffeinated beverage. Those tend to make it obvious your tongue is scorched which means you need to slow your cadence down and need to "sip" on the pipe more.
A lot of Gawaith blends, especially their aromatics, contain "Lakeland essence" which is a "floral" aroma. It's quite different and I would suggest trying those in a cheap corn cob so you don't ghost your briar. Lakeland blends are definitely an acquired taste.
As far as blends go I love Lane's 1Q, it's my go to. Lane's BCA and RLP-6 are other solid Aros by Lane. Cult Blood Red Moon is a great cherry flavored aromatic. Mac Baren's 7 Seas line is definitely one to check out along with their Vanilla Cream. I prefer the flake version of it, to me the tobacco and top dressing flavors are more pronounced in that version compared to the ribbon version. Cornell and Diehl's Autumn Evening is another great aromatic. I'd would also suggest trying out McClelland's Premmium Aromatics line, those are some solid Aromatics.
The most important things when getting into the pipe world is to know that relights aren't a bad thing, be patient, and find what works for you personally.
I've branched out into Virgnias and VaPers, but I still enjoy Aromatics a lot. I personally think Aros are a good start for a newbie, because you'll scorch your tongue at first, but with practice and experience you can eliminate that tongue bite and if you can do that with an Aromatic you should have a solid cadence going for all blend types. For me I learned my cadence by pairing a bowl of an Aro with a caffeinated beverage. Those tend to make it obvious your tongue is scorched which means you need to slow your cadence down and need to "sip" on the pipe more.
A lot of Gawaith blends, especially their aromatics, contain "Lakeland essence" which is a "floral" aroma. It's quite different and I would suggest trying those in a cheap corn cob so you don't ghost your briar. Lakeland blends are definitely an acquired taste.
As far as blends go I love Lane's 1Q, it's my go to. Lane's BCA and RLP-6 are other solid Aros by Lane. Cult Blood Red Moon is a great cherry flavored aromatic. Mac Baren's 7 Seas line is definitely one to check out along with their Vanilla Cream. I prefer the flake version of it, to me the tobacco and top dressing flavors are more pronounced in that version compared to the ribbon version. Cornell and Diehl's Autumn Evening is another great aromatic. I'd would also suggest trying out McClelland's Premmium Aromatics line, those are some solid Aromatics.
The most important things when getting into the pipe world is to know that relights aren't a bad thing, be patient, and find what works for you personally.
My short list of current favorite aros...
Stanwell Melange (apricot)
MacBarens Vanilla Flake
Solani Mango Flake
Cohiba (vanilla)
Molto Dolce for those "special nights"
And, when you get ready to take baby steps into non-aros, I would recommend Peter Stokkebye's Luxury Twist Flakes that are a Virginia Cavendish in coconut. Yummy stuff.
Stanwell Melange (apricot)
MacBarens Vanilla Flake
Solani Mango Flake
Cohiba (vanilla)
Molto Dolce for those "special nights"
And, when you get ready to take baby steps into non-aros, I would recommend Peter Stokkebye's Luxury Twist Flakes that are a Virginia Cavendish in coconut. Yummy stuff.
Tobacco does taste different from briar, cob, clay and meerschaums. But sizes, not enough experience to give an opinion. I recently dedicated a large briar for aromatics and feel they do better in the larger briar. But aromatics taste wonderful in every cob I've smoked them in. The Briar seems to darken the flavor profile. Trial and error here.
I would start with Two Cobs. Haunted Bookshop for one and Something like Captain Earls Mystic blend for the other cob. After you get the hang of packing and smoking. Move to something else like Virginias. Focus on cadence and sipping. Then go to aromatics. Or do it anyway you choose. It's your adventure. Use our opinions as a guide.
I would start with Two Cobs. Haunted Bookshop for one and Something like Captain Earls Mystic blend for the other cob. After you get the hang of packing and smoking. Move to something else like Virginias. Focus on cadence and sipping. Then go to aromatics. Or do it anyway you choose. It's your adventure. Use our opinions as a guide.
I concur with much of what's been said here, but being a primarily aromatic smoker, the vast majority of my pipes have a chamber diameter of 3/4" - 7/8". So much of this is very subjective, as has already been stated in different ways. It's the blend of tobaccos...what topping...how much topping...is it very damp, or had some time to dry a bit...what method of packing, and how tight / loose it's packed...how fast and how often you puff...how often you tamp...how hard you tamp. I'll stop there.
One great example of how subjective this all is...is a slow-smoke competition. The most recent one I attended had a good sized group of guys smoking identical pipes and a light aromatic tobacco, given 2 matches. They packed / puffed / tamped their preferred way. Some guys were done in 5 or 10 minutes...some went 30 or 40 minutes...and the guy who smoked for over an hour...had only been smoking a pipe for a short time. I can't tell you which of these guys had any tongue-bite...but just goes to show how the elements of pipe smoking work together for quite a personal experience.
One great example of how subjective this all is...is a slow-smoke competition. The most recent one I attended had a good sized group of guys smoking identical pipes and a light aromatic tobacco, given 2 matches. They packed / puffed / tamped their preferred way. Some guys were done in 5 or 10 minutes...some went 30 or 40 minutes...and the guy who smoked for over an hour...had only been smoking a pipe for a short time. I can't tell you which of these guys had any tongue-bite...but just goes to show how the elements of pipe smoking work together for quite a personal experience.
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